Cleaning robot and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

A cleaning robot may have a body, a moving unit provided on the body to move the body in a cleaning space, a cleaning unit provided on the body to clean a floor of the cleaning space, a floor image obtaining unit configured to obtain a floor image of the cleaning space, and a control unit configured to determine if foreign substance is present on the floor of the cleaning space based on the floor image, and control the moving unit to move the body to a position of the foreign substance, in which the cleaning robot, by obtaining an image of a floor to be cleaned, detects the foreign substance that is not positioned on a moving track of the cleaning robot, and when the foreign substance is detected, moves to the position of the foreign substance to perform a cleaning.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority benefit of the Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2013-0053464, filed on May 10, 2013, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Embodiments relate to a cleaning robot and a control method thereof, andmore particularly, to a cleaning robot for detecting dust by using afront camera and a control method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

A cleaning robot is an apparatus configured to automatically clean aspace to be cleaned by suctioning foreign substance, such as dust,accumulated on a floor while moving on the space to be cleaned with nomanipulation of a user. That is, the cleaning robot is configured toclean a space to be cleaned while moving on the space.

A conventional cleaning robot is provided with a dust detecting deviceto detect whether dust is introduced or the amount of dust. In aconventional cleaning robot, the conventional dust detecting device isconfigured to detect whether dust is introduced into a dust container orthe amount of dust in the dust container only after the dust on a floorto be cleaned is swept up by a brush. Thus, the cleaning robot is neededto be moved to a particular area to suction dust in order to determinethe presence of the dust or the amount of the dust. That is, theconventional cleaning robot is not able to recognize dust even in a casewhen the dust is accumulated immediately next to a moving track of thecleaning robot unless the dust is accumulated on the moving track of thecleaning robot.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of one or more embodiments, there is provided a cleaningrobot capable of detecting dust accumulated around the cleaning robotwhile moving along a moving track, and clean the detected dust by movingfirst to the area at which the dust is detected.

In accordance with an aspect of one or more embodiments, there isprovided a cleaning robot includes a body, a moving unit, a cleaningunit, a floor image obtaining unit and a control unit. The moving unitmay be provided on the body to move the body in a cleaning space. Thecleaning unit may be provided on the body to clean a floor of thecleaning space. The floor image obtaining unit may be configured toobtain a floor image of the cleaning space. The control unit may beconfigured to determine if foreign substance is present on the floor ofthe cleaning space based on the floor image, and control the moving unitto move the body to a position of the foreign substance.

The control unit may extract a floor area from the floor image, andextract an image of the foreign substance from the extracted floor area.

The control unit may extract the floor area from the floor image byusing a watershed algorithm that uses a marker.

The control unit may extract the image of the foreign substance by usingan edge extracting algorithm.

During a cleaning mode, the control unit may control the floor imageobtaining unit and the cleaning unit to obtain the floor image and cleanthe floor of the cleaning space while the body is moving.

During the cleaning mode, the control unit may generate a moving trackalong which the body moves, based on a width of the body.

During a scout mode, the control unit may control the floor imageobtaining unit to obtain the floor image while the body is moving.

During the cleaning mode, the control unit may generate a moving track,along which the body moves, based on a vision of the floor imageobtaining unit.

The control unit may control the moving unit and the cleaning unit toperform a concentrated cleaning on the position of the foreign substanceat the time of when the cleaning robot is arrived at the position of theforeign substance.

The control unit may control the moving unit to move the body to theposition of the foreign substance in a case when a distance between thebody and the foreign substance is equal to or less than a predetermineddistance.

In an aspect of one or more embodiments, there is provided a method ofcontrolling a cleaning robot configured to clean a cleaning spaceincludes obtaining an image of a floor of the cleaning space whilemoving in the cleaning space, determining whether foreign substance ispresent on the floor of the cleaning space based on the image obtained,moving the cleaning robot to a position of the foreign substance ifdetermined that the foreign substance is present, and cleaning theforeign substance when arrived at the position of the foreign substance.

The moving of the cleaning robot to the position of the foreignsubstance may include moving the cleaning robot to the position of theforeign substance in a case when a distance between the body and theforeign substance is equal to or less than a predetermined distance.

The determining of whether foreign substance is present on the floor ofthe cleaning space may include extracting a floor area from the image,and extracting an image of the foreign substance from the extractedfloor area.

The extracting of the floor area may include extracting a floor areafrom the floor image by using a watershed algorithm that uses a marker.

The extracting of an image of the foreign substance may includeextracting an image of the foreign substance by using an edge extractingalgorithm.

In an aspect of one or more embodiments, there is provided a cleaningrobot includes a body, a moving unit, a cleaning unit, and an imageobtaining unit. The moving unit may be provided on the body to move thebody. The cleaning unit may be provided on the body to clean a floor ofa cleaning space. The image obtaining unit may be configured to obtain afloor image of the cleaning space. In a case when foreign substance isdetected from the floor image obtained by the image obtaining unit whilethe body is moving in the cleaning space, the body may move toward theforeign substance.

When the body is arrived at a position of the foreign substance, thecleaning unit may clean the detected foreign substance.

In a case when a distance between the body and the foreign substance isequal to or less than a predetermined distance, the body may move towardthe foreign substance.

During a cleaning mode, the cleaning unit may clean the floor of thecleaning space while the body is moving.

During the cleaning mode, the body may move along a first moving trackthat is generated based on a width of the body.

During a scouting mode, the cleaning unit may not perform a cleaning onthe floor of the cleaning space while the body is moving.

During the scouting mode, the body may move along a second moving trackthat is generated based on a vision of the image obtaining unit

As is apparent from the above, by obtaining an image of a floor of acleaning space, foreign substance that is not positioned on a movingtrack of a cleaning robot is detected, and when the foreign substance isdetected, the cleaning robot may be able to move to the position of theforeign substance to perform a cleaning.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of embodiments will become apparent and morereadily appreciated from the following description of embodiments, takenin conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cleaningrobot in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a drawing illustrating an external appearance of the cleaningrobot in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a bottom surface of the cleaning robotin accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unitincluded in the cleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of detecting dust by a dustdetecting module included in the cleaning robot in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 6A is a drawing illustrating one example of an image of a floorthat is input into the dust detecting module included in the cleaningrobot in accordance an embodiment;

FIG. 6B is a drawing illustrating one example of a marker configured toextract a floor area from the floor image that is input into the dustdetecting module included in the cleaning robot in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 6C is a drawing illustrating a floor area that is separated by themarker illustrated on FIG. 6C from the floor image illustrated on FIG.6A.

FIG. 7A is a drawing showing an extraction of an edge that is performedwith respect to the floor image illustrated on FIG. 6A.

FIG. 7B is a drawing showing an overlap image of a floor area of FIG. 6Cand the edge of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7C is a drawing illustrating dust detected by using the floor areaof FIG. 6C and the edge of FIG. 7A.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are drawings illustrating one example of a vision ofthe cleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating an area of a vision of the cleaningrobot and a cleaning area to be cleaned in which the cleaning robotperforms cleaning while moving in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the cleaning robotperforming a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along acleaning track in accordance with an embodiment;

FIGS. 11A to 11D are drawings illustrating one example of the cleaningrobot performing a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving alonga cleaning track in accordance with an embodiment; FIGS. 12A and 12B aredrawings illustrating one example of the cleaning robot performing acleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along a cleaning track inaccordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating one example of the cleaning robotperforming a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along ascouting track in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIGS. 14A to 14D are drawings illustrating one example of the cleaningrobot performing a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving alonga scouting track in accordance with an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elementsthroughout.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a cleaningrobot in accordance with an embodiment, FIG. 2 is a drawing illustratingan external appearance of the cleaning robot in accordance with anembodiment, and FIG. 3 is a drawing illustrating a bottom surface of thecleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, a cleaning robot 100 includes a userinterface unit 120 to receive an operation command with respect to thecleaning robot 100 from a user and display operation information of thecleaning robot 100, a ceiling image obtaining unit 130 to obtain animage of a ceiling of a cleaning space to be cleaned, a floor imageobtaining unit 140 to obtain an image of a floor to be cleaned, anobstacle detecting unit 150 to detect an obstacle within the cleaningspace, a moving unit 160 to move a body 101 of the cleaning robot 100, acleaning unit 170 to clean a floor to be cleaned, a storage unit 180 tostore a program and data related to an operation of the cleaning robot100, a communication unit 190 to communicate with an external device,and a control unit 110 to control an operation of the cleaning robot100.

The user interface unit 120 is provided at an upper surface of the body101 of the cleaning robot 100 that is provided to form an externalappearance of the cleaning robot 100, and includes a manipulation button121 to receive an operation command related to the cleaning robot 100from a user, such as an operation command, a stop command, or a movingcommand, and a display panel 122 to display operation information of thecleaning robot 100 such as information regarding whether the cleaningrobot 100 is in operation or in a moving mode. The manipulation button121 as such may be implemented with a membrane switch, and the displaypanel 122 may be implemented with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) panelor a Light Emitting Diode (LED) panel.

The ceiling image obtaining unit 130 uses an upper direction cameramodule 131 that is provided at an upper surface of the body 101 of thecleaning robot 100 to obtain an image of a ceiling of the cleaningspace, and to output an electrical signal that corresponds to theobtained image.

The floor image obtaining unit 140 uses a front direction camera module141 provided at a front surface of the body 101 of the cleaning robot100 to obtain a two-dimensional image of a floor to be cleaned, andoutput an electrical signal that corresponds to the obtained image.However, the floor image obtaining unit 140 is not limited to the frontdirection camera module 141, but may use an apparatus, such as anultrasonic sensor module, a stereo camera module, or a depth sensormodule, as long as the apparatus is capable of obtaining an image of afloor in front of the cleaning robot.

The ultrasonic sensor module is configured to emit ultrasonic waves anddetect the ultrasonic waves reflected from a floor, and analyze thedetected ultrasonic waves, thereby obtaining a schematicthree-dimensional image. The cleaning robot 100 may determine aprotruded portion of the floor from the three-dimensional image obtainedby the ultrasonic sensor module, as dust.

In addition, the stereo camera module is provided in a way that a pairof two-dimensional cameras is provided while having a certain distancewith respect to each other, and may be able to obtain athree-dimensional image on the basis of one pair of two-dimensionalimages obtained by the one pair of the two-dimensional cameras and thedifference between the two-dimensional images. The cleaning robot 100may determine a protruded portion of a floor from the three-dimensionalimage obtained by the stereo camera module, as dust.

In addition, the depth sensor module includes a two-dimensional camerato obtain a two-dimensional image of a floor, and an infrared lightsensor configured to emit an infrared light and detect the infraredlight reflected from a floor and extract distance information on thebasis of the detected infrared light, and obtains a three-dimensionalimage by matching the two-dimensional image obtained by thetwo-dimensional camera and the distance information obtained by theinfrared sensor. The cleaning robot 100 may determine a protrudedportion of a floor from the three-dimensional image obtained by thedepth camera module, as dust.

On FIG. 2, the floor image obtaining unit 140 includes one frontdirection camera module 141 as to obtain an image of a floor in front ofthe body 101, but is not limited hereto. That is, the floor imageobtaining unit 140, not only the front direction camera module 141configured to obtain an image of a floor in front of, may furtherinclude a left side camera module and a right side camera module as toobtain a left side and a right side images of the body 101,respectively.

In addition, as illustrated on FIG. 2, in order for the front directioncamera module 141 to have an adequate viewing angle, the front directioncamera module 141 is preferred to be positioned at an upper portion of afront surface of the body 101, but is not limited hereto, and the frontdirection camera module 141 may be installed at any position as long asan image of a floor in front of the body 101 is obtained.

The obstacle detecting unit 150 includes an infrared light sensor module151 each provided at a side surface of a front surface, a left surface,and a right surface of the body 101 of the cleaning robot 100 configuredto radiate an infrared light toward a front direction, a left direction,and a right direction, respectively, and also configured to detect theinfrared light reflected from the obstacle. However, the obstacledetecting unit 150 is not limited to the infrared light sensor module151, but may include the ultrasonic wave sensor module configured toemit an ultrasonic wave toward front, left, and right directions of thebody 101 of the cleaning robot 100 and also configured to detect theultrasonic wave reflected from the obstacle.

The moving unit 160 includes a pair of moving wheels 161 and 162installed at the left side and right side edges of a lower surface ofthe body 101 of the cleaning robot 100 to enable the cleaning robot 100to move forward, backward, and to rotate, a pair of driving motors 163and 164 configured to respectively rotate the pair of moving wheels 161and 162, and a roller 165 installed at a front of a lower surface of thebody 101 of the cleaning robot 100 to rotate according to a movingdirection of the cleaning robot 100 while supporting a moving of thecleaning robot 100.

The cleaning unit 170 includes a main brush 172 installed at a dustsuction port 103 formed at a lower surface of the body 101 of thecleaning robot 100 to sweep and scatter dust on a floor to be cleanedwhile rotating, a brush motor 173 installed adjacent to the main brush172 to rotate the main brush 172, a pair of sub brushes 174 a and 174 binstalled at left side and right side edges of a front of a lowersurface of the body 101 of the cleaning robot 100 to guide dust of afloor to be cleaned to the main brush 172, and a dust container 175configured to take in and store the dust scattered by the main brush172.

The main brush 172 is configured to rotate as to scatter the dust on afloor to be cleaned toward the dust container 175 while having arotating axis, which is parallel to the floor to be cleaned, as acenter, and the pair of sub brushes 174 a and 174 b is configured rotateas to move the dust, which is at an area at which the main brush 172 isnot able to perform a cleaning, toward the main bush 174 while having arotating axis, which is perpendicular to the floor to be cleaned, as acenter. In addition, the pair of sub brushes 174 a and 174 b, not onlybeing able to rotate at its initial position, may be protrudedlyinstalled toward an outside of the body 101 of the cleaning robot 100 asto be able to expand an space to be cleaned that the cleaning robot 100is configured to perform a cleaning.

The storage unit 180 may include a non-volatile memory (not shown) suchas a magnetic disc and a solid state disk to permanently store a controlprogram and control data to control an operation of the cleaning robot100, as well as a volatile memory (not shown) such as a D-RAM or a S-RAMconfigured to temporarily store temporary data generated during aprocess of controlling an operation of the cleaning robot 100.

The communication unit 190 may include a wireless communication module(not shown) configured to perform a wireless communication with anoutside apparatus (not shown) or a recharging station (not shown) byusing a wireless communication method such as Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi),Bluetooth, Zigbee, near field communication (NFC), or Wireless BroadbandInternet (Wibro).

The control unit 110 is configured to control an operation of the movingunit 160 and the cleaning unit 170 based on an operation command of auser through the user interface unit 120, as well as an output of theceiling image obtaining unit 130, the floor image obtaining unit 140,and the obstacle detecting unit 150. For example, when a cleaningcommand is input through the user interface unit 120, the control unit110 controls the moving unit 160 so that the cleaning robot 100 is ableto move along a predetermined moving track, and also controls thecleaning unit 170 so that the dust on the moving track at which thecleaning robot 100 moves may be cleaned.

The control unit 110 as such may include a control processor configuredto perform an operation on a control program stored at the storage unit180 and data that is being input according to the control program and tooutput a result of the operation. In addition, the control unit 110 mayinclude an Application Processor (AP) configured to perform alloperations, or may include a plurality of processors, such as a GraphicProcessing Unit (GPU), a Communication Processor (CP), or a CentralProcessing Unit (CPU), configured to perform specialized functions.

The detailed structure of the control unit 110 will be describedhereinafter.

Although not illustrated on the drawings, the cleaning robot 100 mayinclude a lighting unit (not shown) configured to illuminate a floor tobe cleaned. In detail, in an embodiment in which the cleaning robot 100performs a cleaning on a dim area, the floor image obtaining unit 140may not be able to obtain a proper floor image to be cleaned. In thecase as the above, the lighting unit (not shown) illuminates the floorto be cleaned according to a control signal of the control unit 140.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the controlunit included in the cleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment.

By referring to FIG. 4, the control unit 110 includes a positiondetecting module 113 configured to detect a position of the cleaningrobot 100 on the basis of the image of a ceiling obtained by the ceilingimage obtaining unit 130, a dust detecting module 114 configured todetect a position of the dust positioned on a floor to be cleaned on thebasis of the floor image obtained by the floor image obtaining unit 140,and a main controlling module 111 configured to generate a controlsignal configured to control the moving unit 160 and the cleaning unit170 on the basis of the position of the cleaning robot 100 and theposition of the dust.

The position detecting module 113 is configured to detect the relativeposition of the cleaning robot 100 in a space to be cleaned, by usingthe image of the ceiling of the space to be cleaned that is obtained bythe upper direction camera module 131.

The dust detecting module 114 is configured to detect whether dust ispresent on a floor to be cleaned as well as the relative position of thedust with respect to the cleaning robot 100, by analyzing the floorimage to be cleaned that is obtained by the floor image obtaining unit140.

The operations of the dust detecting module 114 will be hereinafterdescribed in detail.

The main control module 111 is configured to generate a control signalconfigured to control the moving unit 160 so that the cleaning robot 100may be able to move at a space to be cleaned on the basis of theposition of the cleaning robot 100 and the position of the dust that areoutput from the position detecting module 113 and the dust detectingmodule 114, respectively, and also configured to generate a controlsignal configured to control the cleaning unit 170 according to anoperation mode of the cleaning robot 100.

The descriptions with respect to the detecting of dust by the dustdetecting module 114 will be described hereinafter.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method of detecting dust by thedust detecting module included in the cleaning robot in accordance withan embodiment.

By referring to FIG. 5, an image of a floor to be cleaned is input intothe dust detecting module 114 (210). In detail, the floor imageobtaining unit 140 obtains an image of a floor to be cleaned, and inputsthe obtained image into the dust detecting module 114 that is includedin the control unit 110.

When the floor image is input, the dust detecting module 114 separates afloor area from the floor image by dividing the input floor image into afloor area and an area that is not a floor (220). The separating of thefloor by the dust detecting module 114 may be performed by using awatershed algorithm that uses a marker. The dividing of the floor areaand the area that is not the floor by the dust detecting module 114 willbe described below in detail.

When the floor image is divided into the floor area and the area that isnot the floor, the dust detecting module 114 detects dust from the floorarea of the floor image (230). The detecting of dust from the floor areaof the floor image by the dust detecting unit 114 may be performed byusing an edge extracting algorithm. The detecting of dust from the floorarea of the floor image by the dust detecting unit 114 will be describedbelow in detail.

First, the extracting of the floor area from the floor image by the dustdetecting unit 114 will be described.

FIG. 6A is a drawing illustrating one example of an image of a floorthat is being input into the dust detecting module included in thecleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment, FIG. 6B is a drawingillustrating one example of a marker configured to extract a floor areafrom the floor image that is being input into the dust detecting moduleincluded in the cleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment, andFIG. 6C is a drawing illustrating a floor area that is separated by themarker illustrated on FIG. 6C from the floor image illustrated on FIG.6A.

One example of the floor image illustrated on FIG. 6A represents animage that is obtained by the floor image obtaining unit 140 of thecleaning robot 100 and provided to the dust detecting module 114, andincludes a floor area ‘F’, dust on a floor ‘Du’, a wall area of a spaceto be cleaned ‘W’, a desk area ‘D’ and a chair area ‘C’ located in thespace to be cleaned.

As for the dust detecting module 114 to precisely detect the dust ‘Du’positioned on a floor, the floor image is needed to be divided into thefloor area ‘F’ and the area that is not the floor. Among variousalgorithms of dividing an image into a plurality of areas, a watershedalgorithm is one of the most representative algorithms.

The watershed algorithm is an algorithm, when considering an image as atwo-dimensional topography having a pixel value as a height, configuredto divide an image by determining a puddle surrounded by a singlecontour line as a divided area when the two-dimensional topography isfilled with water. Depending on the method of implementation, the methodmay be divided into a flooding method and a rainfalling method.

According to the flooding method, when assuming that a hole is presentat a local minimum of the two-dimensional topography, water is graduallyfilled from the lowest place. As the water is gradually filled and theheight of the water is reached at a certain level, the two waters beingfilled at opposite sides while having a peak thereinbetween arecombined. At this time, dams are built so that the combining of the twowaters is prevented. By use of the method as the above, the water isfilled up to a final height and as a result of the above, the connectinglines of the dams being generated become a watershed, and the watershedserves as a boundary that divides the image.

Compared to the above, the rainfalling method is not configured in a wayto fill water from the lowest place, but is configured in a way to spraywater from the top and then to scan the pixels of an image to find theminimum point, and by merging the pixels having the same minimum pointsto form an area, and according to the area that is formed, the image isdivided.

In an embodiment in which the watershed algorithm as discussed above isapplied to one embodiment of the image of a floor illustrated on FIG.6A, the image may be excessively divided. That is, the floor image maybe needlessly divided into many areas. For example, from the oneembodiment of the floor image illustrated on FIG. 6A, at the portion onthe floor image at which the desk and the wall meet, the desk area ‘D’and the wall area ‘W’ may be divided into separate areas. In addition,with respect to the portion at which the desk and the chair overlap toeach other as well, the desk area ‘D’ and the chair area ‘C’ may bedivided into separate areas.

In order to prevent the undesired division of the area, the dustdetecting module 114 may use a marker as illustrated on FIG. 6B. Theareas sharing the same marker may become a single area without beingdivided.

As illustrated on FIG. 6A, the floor image obtained by the floor imageobtaining unit 140 is generally provided with a floor positioned at acentral position of the floor image, and at an upper portion of thefloor image, the objects other than the floor such as a wall, a desk,and a chair are positioned, since the front direction two-dimensionalcamera 141 included in the floor image obtaining unit 140 is slightlyfacing toward a lower direction from a front side to obtain a floorimage. Due to the above, at the center of the floor image obtained bythe floor image obtaining unit 140, a floor is positioned, and at anupper portion or at the edges of the image, various furniture or wallsthat are positioned in the space to be cleaned are positioned. Inaddition, since the front direction two-dimensional camera 141 isslightly facing toward a lower direction from the front side, an imageof a very front portion of the cleaning robot 100 may be included in acentral portion of a lower portion of the floor image.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 6B, the portions other than the floor arecombined into a single area by putting markers on the upper portion ofthe floor image and the lower portion of the floor image.

As the example of the floor image illustrated on FIG. 6A is dividedthrough the watershed algorithm that uses a marker illustrated on FIG.6B, the floor image may be divided into the floor area ‘F’ and the areathat is not the floor area as illustrated on FIG. 6C.

The dust detecting module 114 is provided to use the watershed algorithmthat uses a marker to separate the floor area from the area that is notthe floor from the floor image, but the present disclosure is notlimited hereto. For example, the floor area may be extracted by usingonly a central portion of the floor image by removing a lower portionand an upper portion of the floor image.

As the above, as the floor area is separated from the floor image, thedust detecting module 114 detects dust from the floor area of the floorimage.

The dust detecting unit 114 may use the edge extracting algorithm as todetect dust from the floor area of the floor image.

The dust detecting unit 114 may be able to perform a pre-processing onan image prior to the edge detection. For example, in an embodiment inwhich the floor image is a color image, the dust detecting unit 114first of all converts the color image into a black/white image as todetect an edge. The converting of the color image into the black/whiteimage is achieved by assigning a certain weighted value to each of colorelements of the pixels of the color image, such as red ‘R’, green ‘G’,and blue ‘B’ elements and performing summation, as shown on the[Mathematical Formula 1].I _(gray) =w _(R) ×I _(R) +w _(G) ×I _(G) +w _(B) ×I_(B).  [Mathematical Formula 1]

(Here, I_(gray) is referred to as a contrast of each pixel included inthe black/white image, w_(R) is referred to as a weighted value for thered ‘R’, I_(R) is referred to as an intensity of the red ‘R’ of eachpixel included in the color image, w_(G) is referred to as a weightedvalue for the green ‘G’, I_(G) is referred to as an intensity of thegreen ‘G’ of each pixel included in the color image, w_(B) is referredto as a weighted value for the blue ‘B, and I_(B) is referred to as anintensity of the blue ‘B’ of each pixel included in the color image)

At this time, the weighted values with respect to the red ‘R’, the green‘G’, and the blue ‘B’ may be set at about 50%, 20%, and 30%,respectively. After proceeding with the pre-processing, the dustdetecting module 114 performs an edge detection on the floor image.Examples of the edge detection may include the Sobel edge detectingalgorithm, the Prewitt edge detecting algorithm, the Robert edgedetecting algorithm, the Laplacian edge detecting algorithm, and theCanny edge detecting algorithm, and may use any one algorithm from theabove.

FIG. 7A is a drawing showing an edge extraction that is performed on thefloor image illustrated on FIG. 6A, FIG. 7B is a drawing showing anoverlap image of a floor area of FIG. 6C and the edge of FIG. 7A, andFIG. 7C is a drawing illustrating dust detected by using the floor areaillustrated on FIG. 6C and the edge illustrated on FIG. 7A.

When the dust detecting unit 114 performs an edge extraction on thefloor image illustrated on FIG. 6A, the edge of the floor image may beextracted as illustrated on FIG. 7A. The extracted edge of the floorimage as illustrated on FIG. 7A include not only the edge of the dust‘Du’ within the floor area ‘F’ but also the edge of the area other thanthe floor.

As to extract only the edge in the floor ‘F’ from the edge of the floorimage, the dust detecting module 114 performs a logical product on theedge of FIG. 7A and the floor area ‘F’ of FIG. 6C, as illustrated onFIG. 7B. That is, only the edge positioned at the floor are ‘F’ isextracted from the edges illustrated on FIG. 7A.

When the dust detecting unit 114 performs the logical product on theedge of FIG. 7A and the floor area ‘F’ of FIG. 6C, the edge of the dust‘Du’ that is on the same floor is extracted as illustrated on FIG. 7C.

The dust detecting module 114 detects whether dust is present, which ison a floor to be cleaned, through the extracted edge of the floor area‘F’ and if the dust is present, the position of the dust is calculated,and the position is provided to the main control module 111.

Although described later, in an embodiment in which the dust detectingunit 114 provides the position of the dust present on the floor to becleaned, the main control module 111 controls the moving unit 160 sothat the cleaning robot 100 may be moved to the position of the dust.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are drawings illustrating one example of a vision ofthe cleaning robot in accordance with an embodiment. In detail, FIG. 8Ais a drawing illustrating a vision of the cleaning robot 100 in anembodiment in which the floor image obtaining unit 140 includes only thefront direction camera module provided at a front of the body 101 (FIG.2) of the cleaning robot 100, FIG. 8B is a drawing illustrating a visionof the cleaning robot 100 in an embodiment in which the floor imageobtaining unit 140 includes the left side camera module and the rightside camera module provided at the left side and right side surfaces ofthe body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100 as well as the frontdirection camera module.

In an embodiment in which the floor image obtaining unit 140 includesonly the front direction camera module provided at a front of the body101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, thecleaning robot 100 is provided with a vision having the shape of a fanthat is open toward a front of the body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaningrobot 100. The vision of the cleaning robot 100 as such may varydepending on the position of the front direction camera module.

In addition, in an embodiment in which the floor image obtaining unit140 includes the left side camera module and the right side cameramodule provided at the left side and right side surfaces of the body 101(FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100 as well as the front direction cameramodule, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, the cleaning robot 100 is providedwith a vision having the shape of a fan that is open toward a front ofthe body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100, a vision having theshape of a fan that is open toward a right side of the body 101 (FIG. 2)of the cleaning robot 100, and a vision having the shape of a fan thatis open toward a left side of the body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaningrobot 100.

Hereinafter, for the convenience of the descriptions to be provided, thefloor image obtaining unit 140 is assumed to be provided with only thefront direction camera module, but the clarification is also providedthat the floor image obtaining unit 140 may further include the leftside camera module and the right side camera module.

FIG. 9 is a drawing illustrating a vision area of the cleaning robot anda space to be cleaned at which the cleaning robot moves to perform acleaning in accordance with an embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 9, the width of a space to be cleaned ‘CR’ at whichthe cleaning robot 100 moves and performs a cleaning is similar to thewidth of the cleaning robot 100. The width of the main brush 172 (FIG.2) of the cleaning robot 100 is narrower than the width of the body 101of the cleaning robot 100, but since the pair of sub brushes 174 a and174 b (FIG. 2) guides dust toward the main brush 172, the cleaning robot100 may be able to perform a cleaning on the area having a similar widthas the width of the body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100. Whencompared to the above, the width of a vision ‘V’ of the cleaning robot100 capable of detecting dust by use of the floor image obtaining unit140 is wider than the width of the cleaning robot 100. Although adifference may be present depending on the front direction camera module141 (FIG. 2) that is being used at the floor image obtaining unit 140, adust scouting area ‘VR’ at which a scouting is performed by the floorimage obtaining unit 140 is wider than the space to be cleaned ‘CR’ atwhich a cleaning is performed by the cleaning robot 100. In other words,the cleaning robot 100 may be able to detect dust at the dust scoutingarea ‘VR” that is wider than the space to be cleaned ‘CR’ at which thecleaning robot 100 performs a cleaning.

Hereinbefore, each part and each operation of the parts of the cleaningrobot 100 in accordance with an embodiment are described.

Hereinafter, the operation of the cleaning robot 100 will be described.

The cleaning robot 100 may be moved at a cleaning mode and a scoutingmode.

In a general cleaning mode, the cleaning robot 100 is configured to movealong a cleaning track (hereinafter the cleaning track will be definedas a track at which the cleaning robot 100 moves in the general cleaningmode), and removes dust on the cleaning track. Since the vision of thecleaning robot 100 is wider than the space to be cleaned by the cleaningrobot 100, the cleaning robot 100 may be able to detect the dust that isnot positioned on the cleaning track, and thus the cleaning robot 100detects dust on the floor of the space to be cleaned while moving alongthe cleaning track. When dust is detected, the cleaning robot 100 movesto the position at which the dust is detected, and may perform acleaning first on the position at which the dust is positioned. Inaddition, when dust is detected, if the dust detected is distant fromthe cleaning robot 100, the cleaning robot 100 moves along the cleaningtrack until the distance between the cleaning robot 100 and the dust isless than a certain distance. Then, when the distance between thecleaning robot 100 and the dust is less than a certain distance, thecleaning robot 100 moves to the detected position at which the dust isdetected and performs a cleaning on the position at which the dust ispositioned.

At this time, in the general cleaning mode, the cleaning robot 100 maybe able to move along a predetermined track, such as a zigzag track, ormay move along a random track that the cleaning robot 100 generated in arandom manner.

In the scouting mode, the cleaning robot 100 is configured to move alonga scouting track (hereinafter the scouting track will be defined as atrack at which the cleaning robot 100 moves in the scouting mode), andscouts for dust on the scouting track. When dust is detected, thecleaning robot 100 moves to the position at which the dust is detected,and may perform a cleaning first on the position at which the dust ispositioned. While the cleaning robot 100 is moving along the scoutingtrack, the cleaning robot 100 may/may not perform a cleaning withrespect to the floor to be cleaned.

First, the operation of the cleaning robot 100 in the general cleaningmode will be described.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating a method of the cleaning robotperforming a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along acleaning track in accordance with an embodiment, and FIGS. 11A to 11Dare drawings illustrating one example of the cleaning robot performing acleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along a cleaning track inaccordance with an embodiment. In detail, FIGS. 11A to 11D are drawingsillustrating a cleaning of a floor to be cleaned as the cleaning robot100 moves along the cleaning track ‘CT’ formed in a zigzag manner.

By referring to FIG. 10, and FIGS. 11A to 11D, the cleaning robot 100performs a cleaning while moving along the predetermined cleaning track(310). As illustrated on FIG. 11A, for example, the cleaning robot 100that is entered into an space to be cleaned performs a cleaning whilemoving along the cleaning track ‘CT’ that is formed in a zigzag manner.The cleaning track ‘CT’ that is formed in a zigzag manner is referred toas a track formed in a way for the cleaning robot 100 to move toward acertain one of the walls ‘W’ in the space to be cleaned, and when thecleaning robot 100 is near the wall ‘W’ of the space to be cleaned, thecleaning robot 100 moves along the wall ‘W’ by a certain distance D1′,and then moves farther from the wall ‘W’. At this time, at the cleaningtrack ‘CT’ that is formed in a zigzag manner, the certain distance ‘D1’in between the tracks may be equal to or less than the width of the body101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100. As described on FIG. 9, theabove is because the width of the space to be cleaned, that is, the ‘CR’on FIG. 9, at which the cleaning robot 100 performs a cleaning issimilar to the width of the body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning robot 100.In other words, in the general cleaning mode, in an embodiment in whichthe cleaning robot 100 performs a cleaning along the cleaning trackformed in a zigzag manner, the cleaning robot 100 generates the cleaningtrack on the basis of the width of the body 101 (FIG. 2) of the cleaningrobot 100.

The cleaning robot 100 moves along the cleaning track ‘CT’ and scoutsfor the dust ‘Du’ on the floor to be cleaned (315), and determineswhether the dust ‘Du’ is detected on the floor to be cleaned (320). Indetail, the cleaning robot 100 obtains an image of the floor to becleaned by using the floor image obtaining unit 140, and by analyzingthe obtained image of the floor to be cleaned, determines whether thedust ‘Du’ is detected from the floor to be cleaned, and calculates theposition at which the dust ‘Du’ is detected in an embodiment in whichthe dust ‘Du’ is detected.

When the dust ‘Du’ is not detected (‘NO’ from 320), the cleaning robot100 determines whether the cleaning with respect to the correspondingspace to be cleaned is completed (325). When the cleaning with respectto the corresponding space to be cleaned is completed (‘YES’ from 325),the cleaning robot 100 moves to another space to be cleaned, orcompletes a cleaning. When the cleaning with respect to thecorresponding space to be cleaned is not completed (‘NO’ from 325), thecleaning robot 100 continues to scout for the dust ‘Du’ while continuingthe cleaning along the cleaning track ‘CT’.

When the dust ‘Du’ is detected on the floor to be cleaned (‘YES’ from320), the cleaning robot 100 moves toward the dust (330). Since thecleaning robot 100 is provided with the vision ‘V’ that is wider thanthe area at which a cleaning is performed by the cleaning robot 100, thecleaning robot 100 may be able to detect the dust ‘Du’ positioned out ofthe cleaning track ‘CT’ as illustrated on FIG. 11B. When the dust ‘Du’is detected, the cleaning robot 100 moves to the position at which thedust ‘Du’ is detected, as illustrated on FIG. 11C.

At this time, when the detected dust ‘Du’ is far from the cleaning robot100, the cleaning robot 100 is not instantly moved to the position ofthe dust ‘Du’, but may continue to move along the cleaning track. Then,when the cleaning robot 100 is near the position of the dust ‘Du’, thecleaning robot 100 may move to the position of the dust ‘Du’ bydiverging from the cleaning track. In detail, the cleaning robot 100estimates the distance between the detected dust ‘Du’ and the cleaningrobot 100, and may move to the position of the dust ‘Du’ when theestimated distance is less than a certain distance. In addition, whenthe dust ‘Du’ is positioned at a lower portion from the center of thefloor image obtained by the floor image obtaining unit 140, the cleaningrobot 100 may move to the position of the dust ‘Du’, as the cleaningrobot 100 may be able to determine that the distance from the cleaningrobot 100 to the dust ‘Du is near when the dust ‘Du’ is positioned at alower portion of the center of the floor image obtained by the floorimage obtaining unit 140.

Then, the cleaning robot 100 determines whether the cleaning robot 100is arrived at the position at which the dust ‘Du’ is detected (335), andperforms a concentrated cleaning when arrived (‘YES” from 335) at theposition at which the dust ‘Du’ is detected (340). For example, thecleaning robot 100 may perform a cleaning with respect to the positionat which the dust ‘Du’ is detected while moving along a spiral movingtrack.

At this time, the cleaning robot 100 may perform a cleaning in adifferent pattern depending on the amount of the dust detected. Forexample, when the amount of the dust detected is large, the cleaningrobot 100 may move along the moving track formed in a spiral manner orformed in a circular manner to perform a cleaning, and when the amountof the dust detected is small, the cleaning robot 100 may perform acleaning on the detected dust by passing through the detected positionof the dust. In addition, during the concentrated cleaning, the cleaningrobot 100 may supply a large driving current to the brush motor 173(FIG. 2) that drives the main brush 172 (FIG. 2) of the cleaning unit 17to increase the torque of the main brush 172 (FIG. 2), or may increasethe rotational speed of the main brush 172 (FIG. 2). In addition, thecleaning robot 100 may increase the suction force of a dust suction pump(not shown) configured to suction dust.

When the concentrated cleaning is completed, the cleaning robot 100returned to an original cleaning track (345). In detail, as illustratedon FIG. 11D, the cleaning robot 100 moves along the opposite track withrespect to the track along which the cleaning robot 100 has moved to theposition at which the dust ‘Du’ is detected as to return to the originalcleaning track ‘CT’ formed in a zigzag manner, and performs a cleaningby moving along the cleaning track ‘CT’ formed in a zigzag manner.

FIGS. 12A and 12B are drawings illustrating one example of the cleaningrobot performing a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving alonga cleaning track in accordance with an embodiment.

By referring to FIG. 10, and FIGS. 12A and 12B, the cleaning robot 100may be able to perform a cleaning while moving along a predeterminedcleaning track ‘RT’. As illustrated on FIG. 12A, for example, thecleaning robot 100 that is entered into an space to be cleaned moves ina straight manner until the cleaning robot 100 is near an obstacle or awall ‘W’, and when the distance from the cleaning robot 100 to theobstacle or the wall ‘W’ is less than a certain distance, the cleaningrobot 100 rotates toward a random direction and may move in a straightmanner until the cleaning robot 100 is near an obstacle or a wall ‘W’again.

While moving along the random cleaning track ‘RT’, the cleaning robot100 performs a cleaning with respect to the floor to be cleaned, and byobtaining an image of the floor to be cleaned and by analyzing theimage, the cleaning robot 100 scouts for dust. In addition, when dust isdetected while moving along the random cleaning track ‘RT’, the cleaningrobot 100 changes the moving direction thereof to move toward the dustto perform a concentrated cleaning. After completing the concentratedcleaning, the cleaning robot 100 moves along the random cleaning track‘RT’ by moving again toward a random direction.

In the general cleaning mode, examples are illustrated of the cases whenthe cleaning robot 100 moves along the cleaning track ‘CT’ formed in azigzag manner and along the random cleaning track ‘RT’, but the such areonly examples, and the cleaning robot 100 may be able to perform acleaning while moving along various cleaning tracks.

Next, the operation of the cleaning robot 100 in the scouting mode willbe described. When the cleaning robot 100 performs a cleaning againafter cleaning a space to be cleaned in the general cleaning mode, thespace to be cleaned is not needed to be carefully cleaned as in thegeneral cleaning mode, and the cleaning may be performed in a way toclean the dust scattered at a few number of places. When the cleaningrobot 100 performs a cleaning again after performing a cleaning in thegeneral cleaning mode, the cleaning robot 100 may scout for dust as toincrease efficiency and when the dust is detected, the cleaning robot100 may move to the position at which the dust is detected to remove thedust.

FIG. 13 is a drawing illustrating one example of the cleaning robotperforming a cleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along ascouting track in accordance with an embodiment, and FIGS. 14A to 14Dare drawings illustrating one example of the cleaning robot performing acleaning on a floor to be cleaned while moving along the scouting trackin accordance with an embodiment.

By referring to FIG. 13 and FIGS. 14A to 14D, the cleaning robot 100moves along the predetermined scouting track (410). Differently from thegeneral cleaning mode, in the scouting mode, the cleaning robot 100 maynot perform a cleaning if no cleaning is needed. As illustrated on FIG.14A, for example, the cleaning robot 100 that is entered into a space tobe cleaned moves along a scouting track ‘ST’ formed in a zigzag manner.At this time, a distance ‘D2’ in between the scouting tracks ‘ST’ formedin a zigzag manner may be equal to or less than the width of the vision‘V’ of the cleaning robot 100. In the scouting mode, the cleaning robot100 is only need to detect the dust ‘Du’, and this the cleaning robot100 is not needed to move in the distance ‘D1’ (FIG. 11A), which isnarrow, as in the general cleaning mode. In other words, the cleaningrobot 100 in the scouting mode may generate the scouting track on thebasis of the vision of the floor image obtaining unit 140.

In addition, an example is illustrated when the cleaning robot 100 movesalong the scouting track ‘ST’ formed in a zigzag manner, but the exampleas such is only an example, and the cleaning robot 100 may be able toperform a cleaning while moving along various scouting tracks. Forexample, in the scouting mode, the cleaning robot 100 may move along ascouting track formed in a spiral manner in which the cleaning robot 100moves while maintaining a first distance, for example, a half of thevision ‘V’ of the cleaning robot 100, with respect to the wall ‘W’ in aconstant manner, and when returned to the initial position, the cleaningrobot 100 may be able to move while maintaining a second distance, thatis, the distance larger than the first distance, with respect to thewall ‘W’. In addition, the cleaning robot 100 may move along a randomscouting track in which the cleaning robot 100 moves in a straightmanner toward a random direction and when nearing to the wall ‘W’, mayturn toward a random direction and then move again in a straight manner.

The cleaning robot 100 scouts (415) the dust ‘Du’ on a floor to becleaned while moving along the scouting track ‘ST’ formed in a zigzagmanner, and determines (420) whether the dust ‘Du’ is detected from thefloor to be cleaned. In detail, the cleaning robot 100 obtains an imageof the floor to be cleaned by using the floor image obtaining unit 140,and by analyzing the image of the floor to be cleaned, the cleaningrobot 100 determines whether the dust ‘Du’ is detected from the floor tobe cleaned, and when the dust ‘Du’ is detected, the position at whichthe dust ‘Du’ is detected is calculated.

When the dust ‘Du’ is not detected from the floor to be cleaned (‘NO’from 420), the cleaning robot 100 determines (425) whether the scoutingwith respect to the corresponding floor to be cleaned is completed. Whenthe scouting with respect to the corresponding floor to be cleaned iscompleted (‘YES’ from 425), the cleaning robot 100 moves to anotherspace to be cleaned, or the scouting is completed. When the scoutingwith respect to the corresponding floor to be cleaned is not completed(‘NO’ from 425), the cleaning robot 100 keeps moving along the scoutingtrack ‘ST’ to scout for the dust ‘Du’.

When the dust ‘Du’ is detected (‘YES’ from 420), the cleaning robot 100moves toward the dust (430). As illustrated on FIG. 14B, for example,when the dust ‘Du’ is positioned within the vision ‘V’ of the cleaningrobot 100, the cleaning robot 100 may be able to detect the dust ‘Du’.In addition, as illustrated on FIG. 14C, when the dust ‘Du’ is detected,the cleaning robot 100 moves to the position at which the dust ‘Du’ isdetected.

At this time, when the detected dust ‘Du’ is distant from the cleaningrobot 100, the cleaning robot 100 is not instantly moved to the positionof the dust ‘Du’ but may be able to continue moving along the cleaningtrack. Later, when the cleaning robot 100 is near the position, that is,the position of the dust ‘Du’ stored in the cleaning robot 100, thecleaning robot 100 may diverge from the cleaning track at which thecleaning robot 100 is in operation to move to the position of the dust‘Du’.

Then, the cleaning robot 100 determines (435) whether the cleaning robot100 is arrived at the position at which the dust is detected, and whenthe cleaning robot 100 is arrived at the position at which the dust isdetected, the cleaning robot 100 performs a concentrated cleaning (440).For example, the cleaning robot 100 arrived at the position at which thedust is detected moves along the moving track formed in a spiral mannerand may perform a cleaning with respect to the position at which thedust is detected. At this time, the cleaning robot 100 may perform adifferent pattern of cleaning depending on the amount of the dustdetected. While performing the concentrated cleaning, the cleaning robot100 may move along the moving track formed in a spiral manner, or mayincrease the torque of the main brush 172 (FIG. 3) or increase therotating speed of the main brush 172 (FIG. 3).

When the concentrated cleaning is completed, the cleaning robot 100returns to the original scouting track (445). As illustrated on FIG.14D, in detail, the cleaning robot 100 moves along an opposite trackwith respect to the track along which the cleaning robot 100 has movedto the position at which the dust ‘Du’ is detected, and is returned tothe original scouting track that is formed in a zigzag manner, as tocontinue the operation along the scouting track ‘ST’ formed in a zigzagmanner.

However, when the cleaning robot 100 moves along a random scoutingtrack, the cleaning robot 100 completes the concentrated cleaning andmay move toward a random direction.

Although a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is definedin the claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A cleaning robot, comprising: a body, a movingunit which moves the body in a cleaning space, a cleaning unit whichcleans the cleaning space, an image obtaining unit which obtains animage of the cleaning space, and a control unit: which is coupled to themoving unit, the cleaning unit and the image obtaining unit, whichgenerates a moving track based on a width of a field of view of theimage obtaining unit and moves the body along the moving track, whichmoves the body from a diverging position on the moving track to aposition of a foreign substance when the foreign substance on a floorarea of the cleaning space outside the moving track is detected based onthe obtained image while moving the body, which cleans the foreignsubstance when the body arrives at the position of the foreignsubstance, and which moves the body back to the diverging position onthe moving track and moves along the moving track.
 2. The cleaning robotof claim 1, wherein: the control unit extracts an image of the floorarea from the image, and extracts an image of the foreign substance fromthe extracted image of the floor area.
 3. The cleaning robot of claim 2,wherein: the control unit extracts the image of the floor area from theimage by using a watershed algorithm that uses a marker.
 4. The cleaningrobot of claim 2, wherein: the control unit extracts the image of theforeign substance from the image of the floor area by using an edgeextracting algorithm.
 5. The cleaning robot of claim 1, wherein: duringa cleaning mode, the control unit generates the moving track based on awidth of the body, moves the body along the moving track, controls theimage obtaining unit and the cleaning unit to obtain the image and cleanthe floor area of the cleaning space while the body is moving.
 6. Thecleaning robot of claim 1, wherein: the control unit controls the movingunit and the cleaning unit to perform a concentrated cleaning on theposition of the foreign substance at the time of arrival of the cleaningrobot at the position of the foreign substance.
 7. The cleaning robot ofclaim 1, wherein: the control unit controls the moving unit to move thebody to the position of the foreign substance when a distance betweenthe body and the foreign substance is equal to or less than apredetermined distance.
 8. A method of controlling a cleaning robotincluding an image obtaining unit which obtains an image of a cleaningspace, the method comprising: generating a moving track based on a widthof a body of the cleaning robot and moving the cleaning robot along themoving track while cleaning, obtaining an image of a floor area of thecleaning space while moving the cleaning robot in the cleaning space,detecting a foreign substance on the floor area of the cleaning spaceoutside the moving track based on the obtained image while moving thecleaning robot along the moving track, generating a scouting track basedon a width of a field of view of the image obtaining unit, differentfrom the moving track, towards a position of the foreign substance,moving the cleaning robot from a diverging position on the moving trackto the position of the foreign substance along the scouting track,cleaning the foreign substance when the cleaning robot arrives at theposition of the foreign substance, and moving the cleaning robot back tothe diverging position on the moving track and continuing along themoving track.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein: the moving of thecleaning robot to the position of the foreign substance comprises movingthe cleaning robot to the position of the foreign substance when adistance between the cleaning robot and the foreign substance is equalto or less than a predetermined distance.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein: the detecting of the foreign substance on the floor area of thecleaning space comprises extracting the image of the floor area from theimage of the cleaning space, and extracting an image of the foreignsubstance from the extracted image of the floor area.
 11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein: the extracting of the image of the floor areacomprises extracting the floor area from the floor image by using awatershed algorithm that uses a marker.
 12. The method of claim 10,wherein: the extracting of the image of the foreign substance comprisesextracting the image of the foreign substance by using an edgeextracting algorithm.
 13. A cleaning robot, comprising: a body; a movingunit which moves the body; a cleaning unit which is provided on the bodywhich cleans a cleaning space; an image obtaining unit which is providedon the body and which obtains an image of the cleaning space; and acontrol unit: which generates a first track based on a width of a fieldof view of the image obtaining unit, and moves the body along the firsttrack, which generates a second track from a diverging position on thefirst track to a position of a foreign substance and moves the bodyalong the second track, when the foreign substance on a floor area ofthe cleaning space outside the first track is detected based on theobtained image while moving the body, which cleans the foreign substancewhen the body arrives at the position of the foreign substance, andwhich moves the body back to the diverging position on the first trackand moves along the first track.
 14. The cleaning robot of claim 13,wherein: when the body arrives at the position of the foreign substance,the cleaning unit cleans the detected foreign substance.
 15. Thecleaning robot of claim 13, wherein: during a cleaning mode, the controlunit generates the first track based on a width of the body and movesthe body along the first track, and the cleaning unit cleans thecleaning space while the body is moving along the first track.
 16. Thecleaning robot of claim 1, wherein: when the foreign substance isdetected, if the foreign substance detected is more than a predetermineddistance from the cleaning robot, the control unit controls the movingunit to move the body along the cleaning track until the distancebetween the cleaning robot and the foreign substance is less than orequal to the predetermined distance, the control unit controls themoving unit to move the body to the position of the foreign substancewhen a distance between the body and the foreign substance is equal toor less than the predetermined distance, and the control unit controlsthe moving unit and the cleaning unit to perform a concentrated cleaningon the position of the foreign substance at the time of arrival of thecleaning robot at the position of the foreign substance.